The monster that used to be
by imbloodycrowley
Summary: Set post-Briarcliff- Kit and Grace are living with Sister Jude and their son, Thomas. Same general idea as the end episodes of asylum- Kit decided she Sister Jude needed to be cared for, and took that upon himself. Alma isn't in my stories, so obviously her and Kit's daughter isn't either.


"She's adjusting." Kit gestured to Jude, who sat on the floor, playing with the Walkers' young child. "Don't you see? She's doing good, Grace. She's gonna do real well. You know she's been better? She hasn't had any breakdowns in more than a week."

Grace leaned against Kit, tilting her head to rest it against his shoulder. "That doesn't mean anything. That doesn't mean it's not gonna happen again, and I don't want her hurting-"

"She's not hurting anyone, Grace." Kit interjected. "And she's not going to hurt anyone, alright?"

"Like last week? That won't happen again? How can you even know, what if next time it's him?" She gestured to Thomas.

****one week before****

 _Grace had walked into the house just in time to see Kit, looking confused more than he had ever been, all but shoved over the kitchen table, too stunned to make a move to protect himself._

 _Grace had watched-herself stunned into silence as well, as Jude had gone to rummage through the drawer where the kitchen utensils were kept, apparently unsatisfied with what she found. She went to the fireplace of the small home, retrieving the fire iron._

 _Kit, himself in a vivid flashback as well, had wrapped both arms around his own chest, moving to rest his chin against the table top when he seemed to realize what was happening. He readied himself for the punishment that he already deemed inevitable. He stared blankly at the wall, his face gentle and accepting._

The memory haunted Grace. She could still remember so clearly the mishap from only a little more then a week before.

 _She had watched as Jude lined the rod up to Kit's rear, and then the blows, which made Kit jolt against the table each time, equally surprised each time he was hit. It had taken Thomas' scream to pull Grace from her frozen state, the all-too-clear memory she was re-living, to make her realize what was really happening, at which point she had gone to wrestle the instrument away from the former nun, which had ended in a screaming battle between the two of them._

 _Grace had ultimately overpowered Jude, pinning her to a wall until she was finally able to talk her out of her hysteria, forcing her to realize where she really was._

 _After finally calming Jude, Grace had gone straight over to pick up her crying child, who pointed to 'Daddy', asking Grace over and over what Daddy had done, and why he was being hit._

 _"Daddy is good, good boy!" Thomas had cried, clinging to his mother. "Daddy, Daddy!" When the child pointed to Kit once again, this time Grace finally looked._

 _Still bent over the table, Kit's legs shook just a bit with the strain he had on them, standing on his toes only a little, anticipating more pain. Waiting for another lash._

 _Grace still remembered the scared look on his face as she had pulled him up by the arm, explaining over and over where he was, and that he wasn't in any more trouble._

 _She wouldn't ever forget the stunned look on his face, the confusion that didn't go away until much, much later._

 _Grace would never forget that day. Kit had walked around dead silent for the rest of the day, still as stunned and confused as he had looked right after the incident. She had tried to explain to Thomas what had happened, but what did you really say to a child after something like that? There's no right answer._

 _Throughout that whole week, Sister Jude had apologized again and again for the event. Kit had forgiven her the moment she realized what had happened, but Grace had already decided that she never would. She would never forgive Jude for traumatizing her son, her husband- again. She didn't speak to Jude for days._

**present day**

"It's not gonna happen again, alright? I wouldn't let her hurt Thomas."

"Kit, you didn't even know what was going on. You sat there and took it like-" Grace stopped herself at the hurt expression on Kit's face. "I'm sorry, I'm just- it scares me. It scares me is all."

"She won't hurt him. Not our boy, Grace. You know I wouldn't let her hurt him."


End file.
